It's Spring and time to dust off your fiddle! 
Just a reminder to change your strings from time to time. The residue
from your fingertips will rust your strings, to prevent this wipe off
your strings each time you play.  Also, don't forget to wipe off any
rosin dust that may get on your fiddle. I have found several discount
string companies that save me about 40% and every dime counts.
I will include my favorite site on this web site next week. 

While, we are doing our spring cleaning, check your bow for signs of
wear and tear.  Clip any hairs that are stray, never pull.  If you pull
the hairs eventually this will loosen all of the other hairs and it's
all over.  If your bow gets dirty (heaven forbid) you can have it
cleaned and not re-haired. 

See ya later, got to string up my fiddle..  Trenda

Inspiration: where does it come from?

I am frequently asked to help a parent inspire their child to practice, whether it is the fiddle, piano or guitar. Well, that is a tall order. What does it take to keep that initial excitement growing? This is the question! Usually, when a child begins playing an instrument she is excited. She practices day and night, and then, suddenly, no practice. Practice time at home becomes a wrestling match between the parent and child. Lessons are missed and as time goes on, she quits. This sounds like the lives of many adults. We start diets, we start exercising and then.... we quit! When the going gets tough any excuse to quit, will do. 

• How to keep your child committed and excited about music study and how to avoid stumbling blocks

Here are a few things to try to avoid burnout:

Stage One 

If your child is four or five years of age avoid long periods of practice, ten or fifteen minutes is enough. Schedule the practice time when the child is rested and happy. Don’t allow the child to whine about it!  Let him know that this is very important and that he is special for learning this instrument, (and he is!) Don’t be in a hurry. He is young!

Second Stage

If your child is around eight or ten, avoid letting him be involved in too many other activities. This is hard, we want our children to be the best at everything and experience everything. Well, I don’t think that is possible and if music isn’t a priority in the life of your child, don’t expect much of a return on the investment; his time, or your money. Practice can be anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. If possible let your child keep his fiddle in sight instead of the case. Many times he will pick it up and play (for the fun of it!) If your having to nag at this stage, take a breather. Talk to the teacher about the problem and follow her advice!

Boredom: A Stumbling Block

What do we do about this? I advise all parents to be involved with their child’s music life. Many students go to their lesson once a week, go home, practice in their room and then go to the lesson again, go home again to practice in their room! Now, that is exciting and inspiring! Yeek! 

Here are a few hints if boredoom has set in. Parent, take your child to places that she can show-off her skills, such as, grandparents, a family get-together, nursing homes, music festivals, fiddle contests, church, there are many places. You can have a music jam at your home and invite other students. It is your job to expose your child to other musicians which helps to create that "fire" in your child. No teacher can promise an easy ride or that these ideas will always work. After the age of ten it is hard to make a child practice if he hasn’t
developed a love for the instrument. So, try to instill the love and the importance and the commitment at the youngest age possible. 

A Few Personal Thoughts

When my son Tommy was ten, he met a young man, at a bluegrass festival, his name was David Crow. David didn’t brush off this little kid (Tommy), he took the time to talk with him and encourage him. He played a few tunes for him and showed Tommy a few techniques. He shared with Tommy that his fiddle had provided an income that had helped him purchase his first truck. All this at age sixteen!  No fast-food chains for him! Tommy has always had goals. I have always tried to show him a vision that he couldn’t see, possibilities, to keep him aiming higher and higher. At age ten he cut his first album and his first CD at thirteen. The word quit has never been thought of. Many times when children see what others have already done it inspires them. Tommy constantly inspires me. He is now sixteen and still looking upward to a higher standard of playing and preparing for a new album. He now teaches and is giving back to youngsters what David Crow gave him. What inspiration!

What it boils down to is faith and commitment through the hard years. Provide outlets for your child’s talents, encouraging friends and goals.

Keep Fiddlin’ and God Bless!

Trenda Gordon 

Welcome to the first installment of "The Plugged-in Fiddler". This series will unmask many of the problems that face the "electric’ fiddler and encourage the novice to experiment. I will give you some of my insights and I encourage you to write me with your experiences and advice. This series will be addressing those who want to play plugged into a sound system with their acoustic fiddle. If you own an electric fiddle many of these subjects won’t pertain to you.  I recently began playing "plugged in" and I have enjoyed the challenge. Hearing yourself for the first time is very humbling. Most people are not prepared for the intense loudness. So, because of this I suggest that you play around with your sound at home, off stage.

The first item of business for you to consider is your choice of pick-up. If price is a determining factor a simple Fishman V-100 or V-200 will work.  This device will clip onto your violin like your chinrest. It will then clip into your bridge. The down-side is that over time it will warp your bridge. Experiment with the placement of the clip.  The clip slides into the side of the bridge and the slightest variance will make a difference in your tone. Another choice, if money isn’t a problem, is a L R Baggs built in bridge. This bridge doesn’t come with a warranty and can break like any other bridge. One down-side is that when the bridge arrives you will have to pay to have it installed. The wires are not attached and the bridge will have to be adjusted to fit your fiddle. I believe that the Baggs is the best choice for tone. 

The Fishman V-100 Pickup	The L.R. Baggs Violin Bridge Pickup

Next, you will have to select an amplifier. I have been using a Fender amp that has a built-in pre-amp. A pre-amp controls the high, mid and low frequencies which affect your tone. You will get different tones with different amps (they are not created equally).

I also use a volume pedal and I won’t play without it!  Control is important and this allows me to back off the sound gracefully when I need to.